Agilbert Fontaine (Ninclow)
Artemius "Arty" Calderon-Boot (b. 15 September 1896) an American wizard and a well-respected descendant of one of the original twelve American Aurors, as well as highly regarded as an excellent one himself. Born into one of wizarding America’s most prominent families at the dawn of the twentieth century, very little is known about the early life of Mr. Calderon-Boot, whose illustrious career has long since seen much of his personal information be classified in order to prevent those who might want to use it against him from getting their hands on it. What little is known of him, comes almost exclusively from Artemius himself on the occasions where he has chosen to confide in others. Biography Early life Born in the city of Imalone, Wisconsin in 1896, by the time Artemius was five years old, they had relocated from their peaceful existence back home to an old brownstone at 221 Oakwood Avenue in the city of New York in order for his parents to pursue their respective vocations. There, his mother became an investigative reporter for the The Wizard's Voice, from whom he learned never to accept anything at face value. His father, on the other hand, found his true calling at last: An austere, conventional man to whom being a conscientious jobsworth were almost second nature, a mere week before his scheduled job interview at a "appropriate position", his son had successfully convinced him to take him to see a satirical comedy centering on a three vegetarian hags, during which he was completely taken in with the spectacular and marvelous efforts put in by those working behind the scenes. Roused by this, he began very successful career as a "special effects wizard" on Wizard Broadway, where his innovative if occasionally controversial methods became universally praised by the magical community.. Formative years With both parents working, Artemius would often be left at the Young Wizards Daycare Center on Level 200 of the the Magical Congress of the United States of America headquarters in the Woolworth Building. By then, however, Artemius was old enough to properly comprehend what it actually meant to possess magical abilities, and from that moment on, he ensured that his early years would be formative ones, shaping his mind and resolve with the intent on becoming a first-rate wizard. While there, however, Artemius would more often than not sit by himself in a corner reading books to sharpen his mind, wholeheartedly convinced that only through an acute study of the theoretical principles behind magic could a person unlock their full range of abilities, and therefore had little time for his peers. The austere demeanor inherited from his parents also played a part in discouraging potential playmates from coming too near. Although the staff there reportedly had some problems with how he tended to sneak away to go exploring on his own, it is said that he was an uncommonly bright child who, by the time he was seven, probably knew more about the medieval witch-burnings than his future professor in magical history at Ilvermorny, displaying an intense interest in learning about all the ways in which the "grown ups" sought to protect and conceal the wizarding community, and knew exactly in which capacity he would do so. Magical education Ilvermorny years At the age of eleven, he started attending the prestigious Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. During the sorting ceremony, he was offered a place in three of the four houses, The Horned Serpent, the Wampus and Thunderbird respectively, ultimately choosing the latter, roused by the stories of his famous ancestor. He was shortly thereafter then chosen by a Thiago Quintana wand. Proving himself an outstanding student, Artemius was quickly recognized for his impressive academic prowess, coming out on top in most of his classes and continuously demonstrating a knowledge and talent with magic beyond his educational level. During his school years, he won the Charms Chalice, ''the ''Arithmancy Achievement Accolade, got second place in the Transfiguration Tournament and achieved top grades in all of his final examinations. Former peers and teachers alike still remembers him to have been one of the cleverest pupils of his time. Like both of his parents, Artemius was very vocal in his support of the segregation of the magical and non-magical communities, yet found the discovery that Rappaport’s Law dictated that he was strictly forbidden from carrying a wand outside school until he came of age to be a most unwelcome surprise, therefore becoming determined never to become completely dependent on it to use magic, teaching himself how to cast several spells simply through silent hand gestures, among the few student with such an aptitude. Higher education Upon graduating from Ilvermorny, which he did with top marks on all exams, he spent three years at the Euro-Glyph School of Extraordinary Languages in London, rounding off his magical education by two more at Merge School of Under-Water Spellage in the Red Sea before he returned to America, aged twenty-two. Work as an Auror Early career An accomplished wizard, Artemius joined the Magical Congress of the United States of America directly after he returned to the country, and underwent extensive training under the tutelage of then Auror Percival Graves, who educated him in advanced magical combat, defensive charms and counter-curses, poisons and antidotes, concealment and disguise, stealth and tracking, as well as magicriminology and magical jurisprudence, Artemius were known to seldom trust people's judgement quite as easily as he did that of Mr. Graves. Proving himself once more to be a man of considerable abilities by passing both the theoretical and practical parts of the program with flying colors, Artemius qualified fully as an Auror just in time for him to participate in the wizarding effort in the Great War of 1914-1918. As a member of the then recently established Salem-Dirgus Free Militia, a temporary paramilitary delegation of witches and wizards representing wizarding North America on the field of battle, he fought in the war. He was, however, shocked to find out that the 'real world', however, was a much more brutal and unforgiving a place than he thought. Clean cut, pompous and bossy, Artemius had, initially, and in spite of the numerous warnings he received beforehand, somehow failed to appreciate the fact that throughout the years as an Auror trainee, they had merely lived in the in the ideal of the perfect way to execute their duties, and were therefore also, in his own mind, already a fully-fledged hero and genius. Seemingly oblivious to the fact that a vast majority of the teachings he valued so much had all been taking place under controlled circumstances, and that he, like everyone else who makes the cut, would prove as inexperienced as everybody else who had little no fieldwork under their belt. The only reason he even received a position of leadership were because his training made him stand out from the vast majority of civilians, but not immediately among other Aurors. To make matters worse, the many praises he had received from the Auror training him for his high marks in class had sparked in him a sense of entitlement and overbearing self-confidence that eventually met a brutal end as circumstances forced him to face the most unwelcome fact that being an Auror indeed demanded even more of him than he originally thought. In spite of himself, and his initial tendency to quote the hand-book in a way that made it appear as if he thought himself superior in every aspect of the job than any other Auror in the room, the horrors of war thoroughly reminded him why he applied for the job in the first place, and it did not take long before he began to take both the job and his co-workers significantly more seriously. Noted to ultimately have had a highly reputable caliber in the war based on his bravery accounted in his service record, he reportedly demonstrated great courage and resilience, even receiving an International Wizarding Order of Merit for his life-saving actions during the historical conflict, returning a hardened veteran. Assigned to the 'H'igh 'P'oint 'A'uror 'D'ivision in North Carolina, Artemius was quickly recognized as a most gifted employee. As an Auror, everything from theft and robbery to white-collar corruption and homicide fell under his purview, with his many duties varying from visiting crime scenes, talking to witnesses, interrogating suspects, conducting background checks and evidence reviews and suspect profiles and arresting criminals. Serving with distinction and gaining considerable reputation, with more than a dozen successful arrests of wanted criminals within the first six months on the job, his dedication, hard work and considerable abilities lead to a rapid series of promotions, as well as earned him his nickname: "The Boot", a humorous play on the last half of his surname occasionally used by his colleagues in reference to his skill at "stamping out" criminal adversaries. As he climbed through the ranks, he was re-assigned to another Auror Division, each one always a little bigger and a little busier than the last one, requiring him to shoulder a little more challenges, some extra responsibilities, until he became the youngest Auror to join the Investigative Team in the history of the Major Investigation Department, being positioned within their ranks in March of 1920. The Investigative Team Working in even stricter conformity with Rappaport's Law than ever before and henceforth set to investigate crimes related to the most severe violations of the International Confederation of Wizards' Statute of Secrecy, Artemius, along with the rest of the Investigative Team, was called upon to act in the event of any 'very major incidents' such as national security issues and magical emergencies deemed either too severe or too important to be dealt with by regular Aurors, often facing threats of such an magnitude that unless properly contained, they would almost certainly escalate and lead to the exposure of wizardkind and provoke war between the magical and non-magical worlds. As such, Major Investigation Department has prepared emergency response techniques for dealing with a wide variety of scenarios and confrontations, all of which are being kept, along with past investigation files, in wooden cabinets back at their office and subjected to the highest level of magical security measures. As such, while the Investigative Team seldom comment on the work they do in any great detail for obvious reasons, they are not expressively forbidden from doing so, unless it is a matter of an ongoing investigation. As such, Artemius has been known to confide in friends and co-workers about how some of his countless old cases has affected him in various ways. More often than not, the case usually starts with how, upon receiving intelligence of a transgression of sufficient severity as to warrant their involvement, the Federal Bureau of Covert Vigilance and No-Maj Obliviation would notify the Investigative Team by sending a rat memo scurrying through a series of tubes to arrive at the correct office. Once briefed of the incident in question, the Investigative Team would take immediate action and promptly go to investigate. From helping to investigate cases involving magical beasts, ghosts and poltergeists due to the significant risk of such beasts and spirits inadvertently alerting No-Majs to the existence of wizardkind and taking charge in raids to keep particularly potent Dark magical items out of circulation to deal with such highly dangerous combat situations as riot control, high-risk arrests and hostage situations, one of the greatest challenges faced by the Major Investigation Department has for the past few decades been the steady increase of individuals who took their anti-non-magical sentiments too far, and Artemius has notably been very active in combating the murder, trafficking, torture and all other manners of cruelty against the No-Maj population by members of the wizarding community of America. Hellbent on making sure that wizarding would never be discovered by the non-wizards, he has fought and captured dozens of such violent and highly dangerous criminals of shady reputations and nefarious intents. Most notably, he helped solve the ''New York Carnage, ''in which he was credited with the capture of Madame Miraforum, a vicious witch who murdered numerous No-Majs by spiking several water towers with a little known poison under the guise of a magical illness.Wwhen President Seraphina Picquery announced that the Magical Congress of the United States of America would be hosting the International Warlock Convention of 1921, Artemius were among the Aurors listed to serve as their security escort, assigned as the personal bodyguard of the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards himself, whose life he later saved when a riot broke loose when disaffected anarchist wizards got worked up over some of the legislation that had been discussed, during which he sustained a nosebleed but arresting six rioters in the process. As the Major Investigation Department has been known to employ subterfuge and espionage to uncover information and achieve goals, some of his assignments has brought him abroad as well, such as a brief but nevertheless vital stint with an undercover operations unit in Tibet posing as one of the newest members of the International Task Force stationed there while tracking down an escaped prisoner of the New York Witches' Penitentiary and worked surveillance alongsidewith the International Wizarding Police while rounding up international criminals having gone into hiding in the United States. Obscurus incident By the late 1926, the amount of magical disturbances in New York had been increasing steadily for several weeks, and while not sufficiently high-ranking to have have Madam Picquery's confidence, Artemius did share her fears and suspicions about the possibility that it might be linked to Gellert Grindelwald's attacks in Europe. As such, already before it was officially decided containing the incident would require the intervention of the Major Investigation Department, Artemius did everything in his power to apprehend the perpetrator and protect the wizarding community of America from this new threat, which included going out of town to inspect the Magical Transit Authority's checkpoints for entry and exiting the United States of America by magical means in search of any potential breaches in security and therefore not present when . Arriving at MACUSA north of an hour after a few of his colleagues, Mr. Graves and the President herself had concluded her meeting, Artemius learned that Mr. Graves had been tracking the movements of whatever culprit of the now numerous No-Maj attacks and had said it was a magical beast, a claim supported by the substantial damage done to streets, cars and even buildings in the wake of its presence. Upon learning how the "beast" popped up and vanished, he came to erroneously suspect they might be dealing with a Massachusetts Hidebehind of unusual size and strength. This, however, was a theory he quickly discarded when he was alerted to the death of a prominent No-Maj politician by the name of Henry Shaw believed to have had been killed by the very beast Artemius and his colleagues had been trying to track down. Immediately disapparating to investigate as part of a small squad of three top Aurors from the Major Investigation Department ordered to City Hall, and although he did not recognize the markings on the body, Artemius was confident that no Hidebehind could have done it. The three of them were subsequently present at the emergency meeting between MACUSA, where they provided evidence in the form of a memory that could showcase how the body looked like in the hope that it would shred some light on the nature of whatever took the No-Maj's life, then stationed by the door, quietly watching as the rest of the assembly discussed the matter. WORK IN PROGRESS. DON'T CHANGE ANYTHING. - Ninclow.Category:Males Category:Wizards Category:Pure-bloods